Argentine by birth, adopted by Asia, Agustín Balbi weaves Japanese technique and Hispanic memory into narrative menus from which emerges the signature “Sin Lola” (2020), a caldoso arroz-rice served with an aromatic broth still present. His Andō got a Michelin star from 2021 and No. 41 in Asia's 50 Best 2025.
Born and raised in Buenos Aires in a family with Spanish roots, Balbi discovered cooking at age fourteen, when a summer at a neighborhood restaurant gave him a taste of the adrenaline rush of service. He studied at BUE Trainers while shadowing maître cuisinier Thierry Pzonka, then left for New Orleans to perfect French technique alongside Scott Boswell at Stella restaurant, an experience that taught him discipline and rigor.
Eager to engage with another culture, he decided in 2009 to move to Tokyo without speaking a word of Japanese. In five years he honed a sensitivity for seasonality while working in such outstanding brigades as Zurriola, Nihonryori Ryugin and Cuisine[s] Michel Troisgros, being included among S.Pellegrino's “Top 10 Young Chefs in Japan” in 2015.
In 2016, he flew to Hong Kong to lead HAKU, a kappō project conceived with Hideaki Matsuo; the restaurant entered at No. 58 on the SRO Asia rankings and among Tatler's “Top 20” for two consecutive years, marking his rise on the panasiatic scene.
The breakthrough came in July 2020 with Andō, which opened together with JIA Group: an intimate room where personal storytelling takes shape in tasting paths. Six months later, despite pandemic restrictions, the restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star and, from 2021 to 2025, annual confirmation of the recognition.
Balbi's philosophy revolves around omotenashi: “The act of eating is intimate, it's a relationship of trust,” he explains; that's why he closes the restaurant when he's not in the kitchen. The manifesto dish remains “Sin Lola,” a Japanese-style arroz caldoso - rice cooked in a 1:3 ratio with fumet, to stay wrapped in broth - created at the debut of Andō (2020) as a tribute to his grandmother; it is the only taste for which the service offers an encore.
In addition to gastronomic research, Balbi is committed to social work: once a month he turns Andō's kitchen into a solidarity workshop for More Good, preparing mealu2011boxes destined for the homeless and refugees; the restaurant also donates 1 percent of each bill to the project.
Recent awards underscore the footprint of his work: Best Young Talent La Liste 2019; position 55 in Top 100 Best Chef Awards 2021; No. 41 in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2025; first Asian Michelin star for an Argentine chef (2021).
His private life completes the picture: married to a Japanese chef and father of two, Balbi considers family living proof of how different cultures can blend in harmony, an idea that resurfaces in his menus where ingredients from different parts of the world dialogue in essential, sustainable and deeply evocative compositions.
